Last weekend, Ellie & I took part in another GO London hike (18km from Chilham to Canterbury). Considering that it had been in this little town, that I had proposed to my good wife, 16 years ago, we decided to make a weekend away of it and stay for a night. This is my review. REVIEW OF THE CORNER HOUSE HOTEL IN CANTERBURY Many of the other hotels had been booked out, so we ended up booking the largest room, The Dickens Room, at the Corner House, for £200. When this former 16th Century tavern was still called The Three Musketeers, the great Victorian writer had once spent a night there, even though it is unclear in which room. While the 600-year old Christmas market in the medieval town centre attracts a lot of visitors during the advent season, summer tends to be much busier than winter. During the main […]
Spicy Nepalese food at Gurkha Fire, Chatham
Ellie and I are currently spending a weekend in Chatham, near Rochester, in Kent, for a two-day wilderness first aid course. Naturally, with us being fond of food and all, we had to check out the local culinary scene. GURKHA FIRE, CHATHAM, ONLY OPENED IN MARCH THIS YEAR This is how Gurkha Fire caught our attention. They only opened in March this year to great acclaim, with the mayor and other dignitaries attending the opening ceremony. The mayor at the time happened to be the first Nepalese-born mayor of the UK, Nina Gurung. Of course, she comes from a family of Gurkhas. Within weeks Gurkha Fire became the top-ranking restaurant in the whole region (125 restaurants), according to Tripadvisor. Ever since we first visited Nepal in 2020, we have grown fond of Nepalese food. All pics (c) BerkeleySqB except where otherwise noted. Pic #2 above (c) Kent Online GURKHA […]
Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM with The Royal Ballet at the ROH
Ellie and I just returned from the opening night of Wayne McGregor’s MaddAddam with The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. It is without doubt the best ballet I have ever seen. I’M NOT BIG ON BALLET, BUT McGREGOR’S MADDADDAM IS FABULOUS Now, admittedly, that does not mean much, because, different from my good wife, I am no huge fan of ballet and have only ever seen half a dozen performances or so. What does matter, is that Ellie loved it as much as I did. Moreover, the fact that it was me, the ballet hater, who immediately bought two tickets, as soon as I heard that McGregor was behind it, must count for something. Sir Wayne can get anyone into ballet with his magic. I had turned into a Waynaficionado about three years ago, when I saw his & Random International’s “No One Is An […]
Another Fun Trip with GO London: Two Days of Hiking in Snowdonia
Those who regularly visit this blog will know that Ellie and I go hiking with GO London at least once a month. We’ve been doing so for many years now, and never regretted it. DISCLAIMER This post is not so much about hiking in Snowdonia, but about another variation of ‘Fun Things To Do Outdoors,’ about GO London, and about group hiking trips in general. I got a bit carried away, so feel encouraged to go by the headings and skip those sections that don’t look interesting to you. Hopefully, even if you’re based somewhere else in the world, and the vast majority of you are, then this post might give you some general ideas about what you might (or might not) want to do when you’re not grinding away on the job. GO LONDON IS A GREAT PLACE TO MAKE FRIENDS… Half of our friends are people we […]
Four-Star Genting Hotel at Resorts World Birmingham
During a recent visit to Birmingham to visit The National Running Show, Ellie & I found a reasonably priced deal (£118 + 15 + 15 for double room w/breakfast) via Booking dot com for the Genting Hotel at Resorts World Birmingham. Usually we look for hotels in or very near the city centre. PERFECT LOCATION IF YOU NEED TO BE NEAR THE AIRPORT, THE N.E.C., OR RESORTS WORLD However, we were only going to arrive late on a Friday night, and be checking out the following morning to spend a day trying out new running shoes. This meant that the location, 10 minutes’ walk from the NEC (National Exhibition Centre) and Birmingham International was perfect for us. EASY TO GET TO From Birmingham International Train Station (which is a stop on the line from London to Birmingham) it is a 10min walk. Half of it will be outdoors, so […]